The number of students currently planning to attend Seven Oaks Classical School this fall is up by an estimated 55%, according to new enrollment figures just released by school officials.

Seven Oaks Classical School, which is located at 200 E. Association Street in Ellettsville, will be starting its second year of operation when the academic year gets underway this fall. Over 90 new students in grades K-9 have applied to attend the tuition-free charter school, said Dr. Stephen Shipp, the school’s headmaster. This enrollment number will bring the student population to an estimated 255, he said.

“We have been able to offer seats to 92 new student applicants for the 2017-2018 school year,” Shipp said. “We will continue to accept applications on a first-come, first-serve basis until each grade level at the school is full.

“It has been exciting to see the surge of support for Seven Oaks as the community learns that there is a public school option that offers a cutting-edgeliberal arts education with an emphasis on good character and civic virtue,” Shipp said. “We began the school year with 161 students in grades K-8. Over the course of the year, our enrollment has grown to 165. Even now, we continue to accept transfer students in various grades.”

Shipp noted the Seven Oaks plans to add instruction in ninth grade this fall. “We’ll continue to add a grade each year until we are a full K-12 program,” Shipp said.

“Our current families have seen the Seven Oaks difference firsthand,” Shipp said. “Nearly all of our current students are planning to return to our school and we will have an influx of new students in the lower grades,” Shipp said. Kindergarten enrollment at the school is expected to top 55 students this fall and there will likely be up to 43 first-graders when classes begin. “The continued growth of students in these lower grades ensures the long-term stability of the school,” Shipp said.

Seven Oaks Classical School is open to students from any economic background in South Central Indiana. “We already have students from Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Clay, and Greene Counties attending our classes daily,” Shipp noted. “Because we are a charter school, it doesn’t matter what district students live in.

“I would encourage any parents who want their children to enjoy a content-rich, time-tested curriculum to contact me at 812-935-5003,” Shipp added. “Beginning in kindergarten, our students begin mastering a defined body of knowledge in reading and math, science and history, art and music.”

Seven Oaks’ innovative curriculum, which is based on a model by Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative in Hillsdale, Michigan, uses the Latin language as a foundation for instruction in the liberal arts and sciences. “We don’t teach to the test. State standards are the floor, not the ceiling, of our curriculum. Our approach to education has been successful for hundreds of years and is now being rediscovered,” Shipp said, “I’ve seen it benefit students across the socio-economic spectrum. It is crucial in developing analytical techniques, critical thinking, logical reasoning and rhetorical skills in students. Instruction in Latin begins in the primary school grades and will extend through high school.”

Seven Oaks Classical School

The mission of Seven Oaks Classical School is to train the minds and improve the hearts of young people through a rigorous classical education in the liberal arts and sciences, with instruction in the principles of moral character and civic virtue.

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Checks made payable to Seven Oaks Classical School can be mailed to: 200 E Association St., Ellettsville, IN 47429.